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25 Ways Tech Will Change Your Life In 2015

We won’t be living on Mars, but we will have the Apple Watch

By
Tom Ward

16/12/2014

We won’t quite be living on Mars and communicating through telekinetic brain implants, but we will have the Apple Watch. Here’s what else we’re looking forward to next year, from the iPhone 6s to the world’s first eco city

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The Apple Watch

Yes, it will work alongside the iPhone 6 and allow you to take calls and receive Facebook messages on your wrist, but persistent rumours that the battery life will be more short-lived than this year’s S Club 7 reunion don’t fill us with confidence.

Then again, Apple have a great track record so far and the ability to tap into their tech through your watch might make this the smartwatch of the year. It’ll certainly be the most talked about.

Expected early 2015, from £220.00

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The World’s First Eco City – Masdar City, Abu Dhabi

The world’s first carbon neutral, zero waste and fully eco-friendly city is set to be completed in 2015, to the tune of $22 billion. Located just outside of Abu Dhabi, the city is entirely self-contained and employs a multitude of green technologies including the larges solar power plant in the Middle East, a hydrogen power plant and a number of wind farms.

Set to house 7,000 residents and twice that number of commuters, the city’s main industry will be the manufacture of environmentally friendly products. Oddly for an oil-producing country, cars are banned from the city with an emphasis on mass public transit. The final phase of the project is expected to be completed by 2025, when the city will house 50,000 green residents.

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HTML 5

Thankfully, most of us will never have to come to terms with HTML, the code that holds the internet’s websites together, but the release of the new HTML 5 is set to make things run even smoother, with new commands for things like <audio> and <header> <footer> which should make for even slicker, less buggy websites – a plus for designers and users alike.

If your coding skills aren’t up to scratch, find out what that means, and what else HTML 5 will offer, here.

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iPhone 6s

Yes, we may still be getting our head around all the new features on the recently released iPhone 6 [pictured], but that doesn’t mean we don’t want an update.

Of course we’ve already had the iPhone 6 Plus this year as well, but next year’s iPhone 6s and 6s Plus models promise a boost in performance power and an improved camera sensor, leading to more megapixels per image. Plus whatever else Apple have up their sleeves.

Expected mid-September 2015

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Windows 10

We’ve known Windows 10 is coming for a while now, but Microsoft have recently announced an event in San Francisco next January to run through the finer points of the new softwear.

Expect to find out how Windows 10 will integrate across the product range, from Windows Phone to Windows RT. And yes, the start menu is back.

Release date expected to be confirmed January 2015

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Google Android M

The Android Lollipop update has debuted but there are some who think Google still needs to up its OS game. Hopefully Android M will be the iOS 9 to Lollipop’s iOS8 – a slightly slicker and more refined system rather than a total reboot.

Expect Android M to be vital to Google’s Smart Home idea, which allows you to link all of your devices in the home, plus Android Auto, which promotes smartphone interaction with you car. As far as other improvements go, you’ll know when we know.

Rumoured for autumn 2015.

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iOS 9

Yes iOS 8 messed up everyone’s maps and yes, the constant stream of new Apple updates can be exhausting (try opening your laptop without iTunes prompting you to download the latest touch-up) but if you’re paying top dollar each month for the best smartphone on the market, it makes sense that you’d want it to run at its optimum.

In terms of features, we’ve only heard rumours so far, but split-screen multitasking, Face Time video messages and the ability to delete default apps would be a good place to start.

Rumoured for summer 2015

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Biometric Finger Scanners For Online Banking

We’ve already got the first wave of finger scanners for Apple products, but 2015 will be the year finger scanners are employed by banks to keep your cash safe and enable you to carry out online transactions at home without the need for card reads, phone authentication or PIN codes.

The new tech, from Japanese conglomerate Hitachi, is labeled Finger Vein Authentication Technology, and works by scanning your vein patterns, something which is disgusting but even more accurate than finger print scanning and takes only two seconds. Barclays will be the first bank to explore the tech next year.

If you’re the type of person who doesn’t get on well with “made up” words like “selfie” and "vlogging", then be warned that 2015 is set to be the year of the “phablet” – that’s the phone/tablet.

Microsoft’s Surface Pro 3 has been leading the charge this year to the tune of $400 million in revenue, with the Pro 4 due next year. Expected to come in two sizes, both with Windows 10 OS the Pro 4 is rumoured to be halfway between a laptop and a tablet. Just please don’t call it a “laplet”.

Released 2015

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Samsung Galaxy S6

Rumoured to be such a big departure for the South Korean company that it’s being referred to as “Project Zero” internally, the Galaxy S6 is expected to mirror the design and metal frames of the Note 4 and Galaxy Alpha [pictured] and will run on the new Snapdragon 810 processor.

Snapchat fans will be pleased to hear the camera will either be a 16 megapixel or a 21 megapixel effort, and the handset will come with double the storage of its predecessor at 32GB.

Released early March 2015

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TiVo Mega

In these days of illegal streaming and on-demand TV, it’s nice to see TiVo’s commitment to recording live programs to watch later. Long gone are the days of Dad messing around with the VHS player to catch Location, Location, Location, now Tivo’s latest DVR can record up to three years of TV.

To put that in perspective, that makes the entire runs of The Wire, The Sopranos, Breaking Bad and Game Of Thrones look like a drop in the ocean. Talk about overkill.

Expected early 2015

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HTC One (M9)

One of our favourite handsets of 2014 gets an upgrade next year with the chink in the armor – the M8’s poor camera megapixel resolution – hopefully being removed from the new all-aluminium Android phone.

The only downside is that the HTC One (M9) doesn’t sound half as casual as “HTC One, m8.”

Still, who said coming up with new ways to see weird things in 3D was easy?

Rumoured to launch late next year, priced £124-£255

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OnePlus Two

While most smartphone manufacturers would like to invite you to spend your wages on their latest handset, the OnePlus Two is the only phone that’s available to buy through invite only. There’s no solid information on the phone’s specs as of yet, but it is rumoured to run on the Snapdragon 805 processor, with a 5.5-inch screen and 32GB of storage.

The company previously caused a stir by selling the original OnePlus at a much lower price than their competitors, so much so that they were rumoured to have barely made a profit, which seems like a strange business model, but one that your wallet can get on board with.

Expected between April – September 2015

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Vocca Pro

Always wanted to turn the lights off with a snappy cry of “Go Vocca Light!”? Us neither, but if you so desire, this is what you can do with the new Vocca Pro, a light bulb adapter that works by voice-control up to thirty feet away. Simple, handy and affordable.

There’s nothing else to mention, not even the terrible marketing video at this link (please, please don’t watch it, we can’t be responsible for running your day).

As well as a new handset, the Taiwanese manufacturers are also looking to release their first smartwatch in earl 2015. The latest foray into a competitive field, HTC are said to be planning to stand out by incorporating eye-catching design elements, something the company are already well known for.

So, while we haven’t seen any prototype images yet [the image here is a mock-up of what it may look like], this would be our bet for the best-looking smartwatch of 2015.

Expected 2015

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Google Glass 2.0

A select few have been able to play with the Google Glass Explorer Edition for a while now, but a few niggling issues have remained over this year’s upgrades, such as limited battery life and a four-figure fee. Next year promises the release of an updated model, available to everyone and set to be powered by and Intel chip and offer longer battery life.

With a more up to date processor, extra RAM and a slight redesign, the Google Glass 2.0 should be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with Oculus’ best effort. But please, no more talk of “sex with Google Glass”.

Expected 2015

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Apple iTV

No, despite the name this (thankfully) has nothing to do with Coronation Street, I’m A Celebrity… or The X Factor. After the HD Apple TV box debuted to positive reviews, Apple have decided to go one step further and sell you the whole set-up in the form of the Apple iTV.

So far it’s rumoured you’ll be able to download apps via the TV and “ghostplay” them using your handset, interact with Siri and download products from The Cloud.

The TV is said to run on iOS, meaning it will be fully integrated with existing Apple products meaning all Apple gadgets in the home will work as part of a larger entertainment system. The set is said to come in three sizes, 42 inches, 52 and 60. [Concept image by Guilherme Martins Schasiepen].

Rumoured to arrive in 2015, priced twice that of a similar television set

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Photo iPad Scanning Dock

Remember when we used to have physical photographs to hold and decorate the mantelpiece with? Well light up the bonfire and line up those family photo albums because the Photo iPad Scanning Dock has finally made physical photographs redundant.

The scanner does exactly what you’d expect, scanning your pictures to your iPad’s camera roll, holding the iPad upright (like a photo frame) while also charging the battery but please, don’t use the fact that you can now carry around whole photo albums as an excuse to show us your baby photos in the pub.

For the uninitiated [read: "non nerds"] Steam is a platform where you can buy and play PC games on the internet, ran by the company behind Half-Life and Portal. A steam box is a gaming PC built to run on your TV, rather than a computer monitor. Basically, the whole set up is a bit like Xbox Live.

Set to launch next year, the Webhallen is our pick of the bunch. Looking like something from the new Star Wars trailer, it’ll look great in your lounge and is powered by a Nvidia GTX 780. We don’t quite know what that means, but the gist is you’ll be blasting away online with sharper visuals than the PS4 and Xbox One in no time.

Expected 2015. From £959.

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Sekonix DLP Pico Keychain Projector

We all know the dread of giving a presentation. Will you get your words out right, will anyone have an un-planned for question? Will the projector work? The new Keychain Projector from Korean company Sekonix can help you with this last one with their ultra-small portable projector that works through your smartphone, tablet or PC’s USB drive.

Heralded as one of Forbes’ “10 Business Breakthrough Technologies For 2015”, the DLP Pico can pack all of your important presentations into a keyring that also works as a high res projector. Now all you have to do is make sure you’re not flying low and you’re good to go.

We’ve mentioned the word “laplet” before and we’re still shuddering, but the 2015 edition of the Kindle Fire also looks set to earn itself that title, with a rumour that its screen size will jump to 12 inches, allowing for a laptop-like display running Android 5.0 Lollipop.

Surely it’s only a matter of years before books progress to ultra-real, paper based interfaces about 8 x 6 inches.

Expected late September 2015

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Google Smartwatch

After treating our eyes to Google Glass, Google are preparing to launch wearable Android-based tech in the form of the Google Watch. While it’s been rumoured for around 18 months now, it seems likely that 2015 will be the year the watch arrives, what with HTC and Microsoft also preparing wrist-enhancing tech.

We don’t know much about it at present, but expect it to interact with Google Glass, and possibly feature a touch pad on either side of the face for scrolling and stretching the limited screen space, as you would on a smartphone.

Expected 2015

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SCiO Molecular Scanner

If you’ve always wanted to know how much protein is in the food you eat, or whether your plants need watering, the SCiO scanner is the gadget for you. Connect it to your mobile and scan whatever’s close by (even your own arm, if you really want to) to find out exactly what it’s made of.

While this technology has been around for a while, this is the first time you can carry it in your pocket, because who doesn’t want to know what’s really in that 1am McDonald’s Big Mac?

The trouble with all these devices cluttering up our homes – phones, laptops, tablets, TVs – is the need to keep switching between then depending on the task in hand.

The Logitech Multi-Device Keyboard links to all of your devices via Bluetooth, meaning you can flick between a choice of three with a tap of a button. So, tweet from your tablet or upload images to your laptop via your smartphone. What could be easier?

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